Gabe

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Gabe's death

Gabe died of complications from bipolar disorder. He died on March 26, 2007. Zac and I were with him. He struggled with his illness for 10 years. He was loving and sweet and brave. He was the greatest. We miss him every moment of every day. I thought for the past 10 years that we were taking care of Gabe, but it turns out that with all that love he had to give, he was mostly taking care of us. I lived in fear of something terrible happening to Gabe, and when it did I was only two feet from him, but could do nothing to save him. He was a donor. He loved and was loved by many.

Zac's Tribute to his brother Gabe

My brother Gabe was the best person I have ever known. He was bright and beautiful and he was funny. But most of all Gabe was good. As Amy always says, he had an innocence about him that people usually lose while they are still young.

Gabe's life was simple. The most important things in his life were his family, his friends, and his dogs. He loved without limits and unconditionally. He never judged anyone. Gabe believed in the goodness of others.

Gabe struggled the last ten years with bipolar disorder. His life was hard, and he always looked to his family and his friends to help him through the toughest times. In the same way he was always there if you needed him, he never doubted that the people he loved would be there for him as well.

There was never a time that I spoke to Gabe that he didn't tell me how much he loved me and there was never a time that I saw him that he didn't hug me. As our Aunt Deb said, Gabe left all of us who knew him with a simple lesson. Always let the ones you love know it often.

The world was a better place for having had Gabe in it. Gabe believed in God and in Heaven without hesitation. I know heaven will be a little sweeter too with him there.

I love Gabe so much and I will miss him always.

Mother's Day Poem (Anonymous)

This Mother's Day without you strains belief
In life and love and what it means to be,
But there is beauty in my lonely grief.

Your death is like a wound without relief,
Pain on pain as far as I can see,
And so this day without you strains belief.

What's the point of living when a thief
Can break into your heart so easily?
But there is beauty in my lonely grief.

You fell away from me, a withered leaf
Twisting down to darkness, leaving me
This day without you, chilling my belief.

And yet there's beauty in this burning brief
Bright burst of light that ends in agony,
Beauty in the cause of lonely grief,

The love I have for you, a jewel-like reef
In silent prayer beneath my empty sea.
This Mother's Day without you strains belief,
But there is beauty in my lonely grief.